Unripe Smiles
Fullmetal Alchemist Fan Fiction
Genre: gen, childhood!Winry introspective, drabble
Rating: G (K)
Word Count: around 400
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She loves the taste of tomatoes. She loves the way the vines breathe heat on her in summer and fasten their lively, earthy scent to her body and stain her fingers green. Whenever Granny lets her dress up in her party dress and the sun hat that was once Mom's, she sits all day in the mulch and eats tomatoes, sun-warm, right off the vine.
They were best that way, so much more alive.
And stolen, but Edward and Alphonse didn't mind that; they liked to share things with her because each thought he was going to marry her someday. Besides, Winry thought Miss Trisha was the best gardener in the world. (And awarding praise ought to count for something, right?)
Naturally, she had hysterics when Miss Trisha said the garden wouldn't last through winter, and that she wasn't sure whether she would have the time to plant Winry's tomatoes again.
Granny said that if she wanted the tomatoes to come back each year, she would have to take responsibility. She would have to keep the ground from freezing through and keep the fertile soil from washing away in the winter storms.
That reminded her of the year her parents never came home, and she wondered if it was because they had not taken her along to care for them. (She tries not to think about that too much. It is too sad, and she made a promise to Ed and Al that she would keep smiling.) Still, when winter came and the tomatoes went back into the ground, Winry could not dry her tears.
Having no tomatoes was sad. Having no parents was sad. But Miss Trisha dying that week was sadder.
At the funeral, she of course mourned for Miss Trisha. But she knew it would be like burying Ed and Al alongside her, so she mourned for them as well. The neighbors said she must have loved Miss Trisha extra much since she brought three bouquets of (the prettiest, largest) dandelions.
Her best friends were buried alive. After that last morning, Winry noticed her friends' smiles had turned kin to those beautiful tomatoes. Every attempt, every upturn of their lips and bit of forced laughter, was hard and green and bitter. (Alphonse's in particular was tinny and hollow and it wasn't even all his fault.)
She wondered if she had been like that when – (but she's not thinking about that. She can't. She has her friends to save, first.)
If unripe smiles were once hers to wear.
Still, Winry is convinced their happiness has just gone to sleep and when their summer comes it will be good again. All they need to do is survive the winter.
fin
Winry's opinions are always so beautifully honest and clear. But as the series progresses all of her childhood delusions are broken and she realizes just how wrong she was about a lot of things. About the Elrics, in particular.
Constructive criticism is, as always, appreciated!